环球英语 — 221：Working Without Borders

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹, I’m Joshua Leo.
Voice 2
And I’m Marina Santee. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
The disease² was killing³ hundreds of people. It was spreading through the African country of Burkina Faso. The disease was meningitis. It was infecting thousands of people – it was an epidemic⁴. Healthy people needed injections⁵ of a vaccine⁷ to stop them getting the disease. Burkino Faso needed more doctors.
Voice 2
Many foreign doctors came to help save lives. They helped to inject⁶ about one million people with vaccines⁸ in the country’s capital, Ouagadougou. They helped to stop the Burkina Faso epidemic of 2007. The doctors came from MSF.
Voice 1
MSF is an international organisation⁹ that sends doctors all over the world. MSF has two main aims. The first is to provide medical help. The second is to tell the world about the people in need. The organisation was started in 1971 by a group of doctors from France. MSF is short for the group’s name in the French language – ‘Medecins Sans Frontieres’. In English this means¹⁰ Doctors Without Borders.
Voice 2
Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, now works¹¹ in over sixty [60] countries around the world. It employs doctors and other health workers. Some of these are local, some foreign. The local people are paid wages by MSF, but the foreign people work for free. These volunteers leave their jobs in their home country and go to where they are needed. They could be helping¹² to fight disease, like in Burkina Faso. Or they could be providing other emergency help, such as food aid.
Voice 1
When a huge storm hit Myanmar or Burma in May 2008, MSF was there to help. Cyclone¹³ Nargis killed thousands of people and left many more without a home. The storm also ruined the land and killed farm animals. As a result, people could not grow enough food. MSF is one group that gave people the food they needed.
Voice 2
Michel Peremans is a Belgian journalist. He also works with Doctors Without Borders. He has been helping a medical team in Burma. His report describes how he has been helping the team to transport food to communities by boat.
Voice 3
‘On the boat we are carrying rice, beans, oil and cans of fish. It is enough to feed three thousand [3000] people for a week. We also have hundreds of water containers and some plastic covering material... We travel for more than three hours – then we reach the small city of Myit Pauk. Sixteen hundred [1,600] people lived in this town before the cyclone, but two hundred [200] were killed. Two thirds of the farm animals drowned and sixty percent [60%] of the boats sank. The houses that are still standing¹⁴ are badly damaged. The people lack the tools they need to rebuild their homes so we give them toolkits... We travel for another half an hour until we reach Daunt¹⁵ Chaung. This town is ruined... A man stops us. “Ten members of my family died,” he tells us. “My wife, my parents and one of my brothers survived, but all of my sisters and their children are dead.” He does not want to tell us any more.’
Voice 1
Cyclone Nargis ruined people’s lives in Burma. That is why the work of Doctors Without Borders is so important. They go to the people with the greatest need and do what they can to help. They are not controlled by any government. The name ‘Doctors Without Borders’ showed that they would not let any national borders stop their work. The name also showed that they would not always follow the wishes of any particular country.
Voice 2
Since MSF began, other groups have been established with a similar idea. As well as Doctors Without Borders, people with other skills have created their own organisations. These ‘Without Borders’ organisations also work around the world to help people in different ways.
Voice 1
‘Reporters Without Borders’ is an organisation that tries to protect the people that report and write the news. It also struggles for the freedom to report the news. This is to prevent governments from controlling what people read, see and hear. The organisation believes that people in every country should be able to know the truth of what is happening in the world.
Voice 2
‘MBAs Without Borders was created in Canada in 2004. The group uses experienced¹⁶ businessmen and women to help people develop businesses around the world. They work with local people and organisations and teach them how to manage a business. They believe this can help people work their way out of poverty¹⁷.
Voice 1
There are also a number of Engineers Without Borders organisations around the world. For example, Engineers Without Borders USA was started in the year two thousand. It works with communities in developing¹⁸ countries on all sorts of building projects. One such project is in Ecuador. The engineers want to help people living in the village of Bua in west Ecuador. These people need a better water supply. The engineers also want to improve the way the waste is managed. They lived in the community to learn about the people, and how to help them. The engineers hope that their skills will help the community and improve local people’s health.
Voice 2
There are many more ‘without borders’ organisations. But what makes people want to join them? Michael White is a volunteer with Doctors Without Borders or MSF. He has written on the internet about working in Sudan with the organisation. He says he is not sure what made him want to go. But on the first day of his journey to the African country he wrote:
Voice 3
‘Seeing the people that work for MSF has made me want to plan a project of my own... Four years ago I walked into the Doctors Without Borders office. I hoped that one day I would work in a foreign country with MSF. Today is the most satisfying¹⁹ day of my life! The happiest will be the day that our world no longer needs MSF!’
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

5 injections   

n.注射( injection的名词复数 )；（液体）注入；喷入；大量资金的投入

参考例句：

• The doctor was associated in the child's mind with injections and pains. 在孩子的心里，医生总是使他联想到打针与疼痛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Injections of vitamin C are obviously advantageous. 注射维生素C显然是有利的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 inject   

vt.注射，注入，注满

参考例句：

• We hope to inject new life into our work.我们希望给我们的工作注入新的活力。
• He needs to inject himself once a month.他需要每月为自己打一针。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

8 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

9 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

10 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

11 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 daunt   

vt.使胆怯，使气馁

参考例句：

• Danger did not daunt the hero.危险并没有吓倒这位英雄。
• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us.再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。

16 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

17 poverty   

n.贫穷， 贫困， 贫乏， 缺少

参考例句：

• We must continue to war against poverty and disease.我们一定要继续同贫穷和疾病作斗争。
• He showed his poverty in his knowledge of agriculture.他表现出缺乏对农业知识的了解。

18 developing   

adj.发展中的

参考例句：

• Transport has always been the key to developing trade.运输一直是发展贸易的关键。
• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。

19 satisfying   

adj.令人满意的，令人满足的v.使满意，满足( satisfy的现在分词)

参考例句：

• It's satisfying to play a game really well. 一种游戏玩得特别好是一桩惬意的事。
• The book is more satisfying if you read each chapter in sequence. 这本书依次读各章会更好。 来自《简明英汉词典》